Women's College Hospital (WCH) is an academic, ambulatory care hospital in Ontario with a focus on health for women, health equity and health system solutions. If you're ready to be part of a team that is revolutionizing the future of healthcare, then you will want to join an institution where the possibilities for innovation, new discovery and system thinking are limitless. Women's College Hospital is committed to equity, quality and patient safety as key professional values and essential components of daily practice.
Healthcare Revolutionized 2030 is our roadmap to the future. Our strategy is built on the pledge that the founders of our hospital made 140 years ago and reaffirms our commitment to providing equitable, accessible, best-in-class healthcare for everyone – meeting people where they are on their healthcare journey and partnering with them to reach their goals of living their healthiest lives possible. The stage has been set for Women’s to accelerate our priorities and capture the momentum to catapult our system forward to revolutionize healthcare for everyone.
Applicants must reside and be legally eligible to work in Ontario.
The successful candidate for the
Research Assistant position will work under the scientific leadership of Drs. Pamela Leece and Jennifer Wyman. The successful candidate will support the project titled “Slow-Release Oral Morphine as Opioid Agonist Therapy in the Fentanyl Era: A Qualitative Study of Client Experience”.
About the project:
The dramatic increase in overdose deaths associated with the unregulated drug supply makes it imperative to find ways to improve treatment options for people who use drugs. While buprenorphine and methadone are first-line medications for opioid use disorder, they do not address the needs of many people who use opioids. Studies have shown that slow- release oral morphine (SROM) may be preferred over methadone by some people due to better control of cravings and fewer side effects, but these studies are small and predate the time of fentanyl dominating the unregulated opioid market. Treatment retention in opioid agonist treatment has become even more critical with the increasing rates of fatal overdoses with the contaminated street opioid supply. The relatively novel adoption of SROM in the context of an unregulated opioid supply dominated by fentanyl and fentanyl analogues has had some initial encouraging results. This study will explore how SROM therapy has contributed, positively or negatively to their experiences of treatment satisfaction, retention, and outcomes.
Summary of Duties, but not limited to:
- Participate in research training to strengthen understanding of research design and research ethics
- Contribute to interview guide development and document review
- Responsible for conducting up to 15 community interviews. These interviews may take place virtually or in-person at Women’s College Hospital or at designated community sites, so ability to travel is essential
- Participate in data analysis activities
- Responsible for obtaining informed consent
- Prepares detailed notes of all interactions with participants
- Completes data entry and quality control ensuring the accuracy and integrity of data collection; may investigate missing or invalid data and prepare data sets
- Communicates with Research Coordinator and/or Principal Investigator to provide updates
- Attend research meetings
- Prioritizes and monitors various study deadlines for their own work
- May assist team members with preparing materials for proposals, progress reports, presentations, and publications
- May assist in the analysis of qualitative and quantitative data and the interpretation of results
- As a role model and champion, you will work to identify and integrate safe, best practices into daily activities to foster the delivery of safe and exemplary care.
- The responsibilities described above are representative and are not to be construed as all-inclusive.
Qualifications/Skills:
- Undergraduate or graduate degree in a related field or one year of equivalent experience. Lived experience highly valued.
- Some experience in a health research setting preferred
- Excellent problem-solving skills
- Excellent verbal and written communications skills
- Work efficiently under pressure with strong judgement and decision-making skills
- Excellent organizational and time management skills
- Well-developed interpersonal and customer service skills
- Ability to maintain confidentiality
- Mastery of MS Office applications including Excel, Outlook, Access and Word an asset
- Demonstrated record of good performance and acceptable attendance will be considered as part of the selection criteria
- Professional behaviour and communication that meets the standards of the professional regulatory college or association, as applicable, and the standards of Women’s College Hospital
- This position plays a critical role in acting as an advocate for safety and will demonstrate principles, practices and processes that will optimize a safe environment for all
This position plays a critical role in acting as an advocate for safety and will demonstrate principles, practices and processes that will optimize a safe environment for all.
Women's College Hospital is a fully affiliated teaching hospital of the University of Toronto and is committed to fairness and equity in employment and our recruitment and selection practices. We encourage applications from Indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, members of sexual minority groups, members of racialized groups, women and any others who may contribute to the further diversification of our Hospital community. Accommodation will be provided in all parts of the hiring process as required under our Access for People with Disabilities policy. Applicants need to make their requirements known in advance.
